Floor Statements

Mr. President, I have been led to believe there are three bills at the desk. If that is the case, I ask for their first reading en bloc.

I now ask for a second reading en bloc on these matters, but I also object at the same time to my own request, en bloc.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, February 26; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate resume consideration of S. 160, the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act, as under the previous order that has already been entered.

As I indicated earlier, Senators should expect rollcall votes throughout the day as we work to complete action on the DC House Voting Rights Act. The first vote of the day is expected to begin at 10:30 in relation to the Kyl amendment regarding retrocession.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Madam President, today following leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 160, the DC Voting Rights legislation, with the time divided until 11 a.m. between the two leaders or their designees. The designation we have is, of course, Senator Lieberman, the chairman of the committee. At 11 a.m. the Senate will proceed to a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the bill.

The Senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus luncheons. We will likely not have a vote on the nomination of Solis, a cloture vote. It is my understanding that Republicans have almost cleared it. They have one more Senator to hear from to set this up. So there will be a vote at 4:30 from the time after the caucus. We are waiting for a phone call. Staff is waiting for a phone call. So what we would do if, in fact, that is granted, we would work until 4:30 p.m. today on the Solis nomination. People can come and talk on that however they feel. At 4:30 we would have a vote on her confirmation.

Now, that vote will be completed shortly before 5 o'clock. Chairman Lieberman will be the person who will be managing this bill. If people want to amend this, they have that right to do that. I have spoken at some length to the Republican leader. We have to get off this legislation as soon as we can, because a week from this Friday, March 6, the funding for the Government runs out. So we have to pass the bill that will be coming from the House today, or at the latest tomorrow. We have to get that passed.

We have scheduled a ``no-vote day'' next Friday. We would like to keep that. If, however, we see that this appropriations bill is running into trouble, we are going to have to cancel that because we have to continue working on the legislation until we complete it. But there should be no problem in that regard.

I understand people want to offer amendments. That is fine. Let them offer amendments. But this bill has been around for a long time. It is now on the Web--people can look at it--as of last night. It has been around for a long time. We have had Republican input, both in the House and in the Senate. It has been scrubbed very closely. So I hope everyone would look at the legislation, determine what amendments they want to offer and recognize the deadline we have next Friday.

I appreciate that very much.

Madam President, I overlooked a very important part of today. It is my understanding it is the birthday of the manager of this legislation. So all of us in the Senate wish the great Senator from the State of Connecticut happy birthday.

As President Reagan said, the alternative, though----

Mr. President, I rise today to honor my longtime colleague in Nevada government, State senator William ``Bill'' Raggio, for his extensive record of public service and community activism.

At this year's Governor's Points of Light Award Dinner, Senator Raggio will be honored with the inaugural ``Governor's Choice Award.'' This award, which will be formally presented by Governor Jim Gibbons on February 26, recognizes Senator Raggio for his commitment to community improvement through volunteerism and philanthropy.

A longtime resident of Nevada, Bill has been a devoted and active member of his community. As a young man during World War II, Senator Raggio served his community and his country honorably as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Upon return, he graduated from the University of Nevada at Reno before pursuing a law degree.

Since that time, Bill has been a tireless advocate for the people of Nevada. He has served on the ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and also as the district attorney for Washoe County. In 1973, Bill made the jump to the State senate, where his career has flourished and continues today. He has worked in various capacities in the State's legislative body, and is currently the minority leader of the senate.

I can think of no better recipient of the ``Governor's Choice Award'' than Senator Raggio. His 36 years of public service and selfless sacrifice are an example of how a single person can be an overwhelming influence for good in his community. There is no doubt that his wife Dale and their children are extremely proud of him. Indeed, all Nevadans have reason to be proud of Senator Raggio.

I congratulate Senator Raggio upon receiving this tremendous honor, and wish him all the best in his future undertakings.

Mr. President, following the remarks of the leaders, if there be any, there will be a period of morning business with Senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. That time will be controlled equally until 5 p.m. The two leaders can fix who their designees will be.

We expect to be in a position sometime today to vote on adoption of the conference report to H.R. 1. Our cloakroom has issued an alert to all Senators. Any Senators who want to come and speak, they should at least alert the cloakroom they need some time to do that. We have an order in effect of 10 minutes each. If someone wants to talk longer, fine; we have no problem with that at all. But we do need some idea as to how many people wish to speak on this legislation. There have been a number of speeches given during the last few days about it, but if some want to amplify or add to those remarks, that would be fine.

I have been in close touch with the Republican leader during the last 24 hours, and we are going to do our best to try to come up with a time today.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the conference report to accompany H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with the time until 5:30 for debate, with the time divided as follows: the majority controlling 30 minutes and the remaining time under the control of the Republican leader or his designee; that a budget point of order be in order and if raised against the conference report, then a motion to waive the applicable point of order be considered made; that at 5:30 p.m. the Senate then vote on the motion to waive the point of order; further, that the vote on the waiver of the point of order count as a vote on adoption of the conference report, with a 60-vote threshold; that no further points of order be in order during the pendency of the conference report; and that upon adoption of the conference report, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no further intervening action.

Mr. President, I wish to publicly express my appreciation for the thoughtful time certainty on this by the Republicans. As they know, we

have a couple issues on our side, one is a death and one is the health of one of our Members. They have been very thoughtful and understanding of our situation. For that I will always be grateful.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask we now go to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, ordinarily I would ask consent to proceed to legislation, especially S. 160, a bill to provide the District of Columbia a voting seat and the State of Utah an additional seat in the House of Representatives, but I know there is an objection; therefore, I will not ask consent. But in view of an objection that would be lodged against the proceeding, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 23, S. 160, and I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum be waived.

I now withdraw the motion.

I now ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote occur at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, February 24; that if cloture is invoked on the motion, then all postcloture time be considered yielded back, the motion to proceed be agreed to, and the Senate proceed to the consideration of the bill.

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Calendar No. 18, Hilda L. Solis, of California, to be Secretary of Labor.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum be waived.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now resume legislative session.